FSU kicker Roberto Aguayo makes key plays during debut

TALLAHASSEE — Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo had one thought run through his head as Pittsburgh KR Tyler Boyd broke away from the Seminoles' initial surge of defenders.

"It's either me or him," Aguayo thought to himself.

As Boyd cut to the sideline last week, Aguayo sized the freshman receiver up, dove, extended his hand and tripped Boyd.

"If I don't get him, he's scoring," Aguayo said. "I wanted to square him, but he cut back on me in the end. . . . We did some tackling drills during camp. [Special teams] coach [Charles] Kelly wanted me to do some, so I feel like those helped out a lot. I also played linebacker in Pop Warner, so I think those skills came to life."

Aguayo, a redshirt freshman, did more than just save a score prior to halftime in FSU's 41-13 win against Pitt. In his first game, Aguayo went five-for-five on extra points and connected on both field-goal attempts of 22 and 28 yards.

"I was like, 'I know this is going in,'" Aguayo said of his first college field-goal attempt in the second quarter. "Nerves? No, they weren't what I expected them to be."

Any jitters would have been understandable. Aguayo has the task of replacing Dustin Hopkins, the NCAA's all-time leading scorer.

Hopkins touched base with Aguayo after the game to congratulate him.

"It was good to hear from him," Aguayo said.

• FSU (1-0) remained No. 10 in the AP top 25 poll following the team's bye week. The Seminoles moved from No. 10 to No. 9 in the USA Today coaches' poll.